


The First Spell

by SilentSilverRiver



Series: Magical Mishaps [2]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), High Hopes Low Rolls (Web Series)
Genre: Demon Summoning, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Magic, Poor Rook, Undead, magical mishaps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24882049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentSilverRiver/pseuds/SilentSilverRiver
Summary: Magic is a powerful art, one that can take decades to learn. Even for the most advanced of casters, something always goes wrong with the first casting of a spell.Or:Rook is a very experienced Wizard, but even he has his moments . . .
Series: Magical Mishaps [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1785127
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	The First Spell

**Author's Note:**

> This is in no way related to cannon at all, just saying, since there's only two episodes so far and this is based before that. It's just a little thought that I had cross my mind.

“I-I spit out f-foul words and summon Thee, G-great Demon of the Abyss!”

Nagar bared his teeth in a slightly serrated smile as he pushed back against the undead horde they were fighting against. Great! Rook was finally ready to cast his spell! Around him the rest of the party ducked in and out of the shadows and between the flames with battle cries and shouted attacks. Gripping his axe tightly between his claws Nagar let out a bellow of his own and flung a group of six skeletons away from him as he turned to grin at Rook in excitement. The Wizard had the  _ best  _ large area effect spells -

Nagar’s smile froze and his eyes widened slightly, taking in the wizard’s appearance before letting out a slightly strangled “Wizard?!”

Gimgar came skipping out from between two pillars of flames three seconds later with a groan. She blinked slowly at Nagar’s frozen form before turning to where his attention was directed, a grin already sliding over her face as she anticipated this newest opponent that could pause even the barbarian dragonborn in his tracks.

Black mist poured out from an open mouth, circling the ominous figure in the center of a slightly glowing bloody circle. Eyes dark as night all the way to the edges of the eyelid peered back at her as the figure flung their arms out on either side and continued chanting. Gimgar felt her own heart stutter as she  _ recognized  _ the figure standing amidst circling smoke.

_ “Rook?!” _

_ “Rise, Bulezau, and grind the bones of my enemies to dust!”  _ Rook’s voice had taken on an echoing, dark tone, and Gimgar felt the very air almost  _ shiver  _ around them. 

_ Oh no, _ she thought as she began to back away. The mist spilled beyond the boundaries of the glowing circle, thick and dark as it spun even faster. Dust as dirt ripped itself from the ground to join the swirling vortex as it crept higher, but amidst the dust and clouded mist Gimgar saw the flash of  _ something else.  _

_ No nononono - _

The first thing to rise above the mist were two slightly curved horns, sharp as dragon’s claws, followed by pointed, ragged ears and a goatlike head as the beast - _ demon, her mind traitorously whispered -  _ lifted itself upward. It was as if the mist was a portal, a link, between this world and the Abyss itself. 

The demon tossed its head back and  _ howled,  _ voice full of bloodthirsty anger and pain as it lifted itself up on its back legs. Gimgar and Nagar both tilted their heads back as they watched it rise out of the shadows. The mist was slowly clearing, but the last of it outside of the circle was swept away with the sweep of a long tail, a tail covered in jagged icicle-like spikes near the end. 

It turned it’s crazed, clouded eyes on them and bared its teeth in a menacing grin. 

_If I die here, Wizard, I will make you_ _regret it!_ Gimgar snarled as she rolled to her feet and grabbed the nearest unused weapon just as the demon lunged. 

Her eyes widened as it darted toward them, wolf-like hind legs propelling it forward almost too quickly to see and tail whipping behind it like some deformed snake. Gimgar cursed as she lifted her shield and braced for impact. Besider her Nagar also ducked low to give it less space to strike. She could almost  _ hear _ his teeth grinding in preparation as he tilted his axe to take the majority of the impact. 

And then it was upon them, muscles rippling and eyes gleaming in unholy intelligence as it planted one clawed foot  _ right next to her face _ and then - 

_ Crunch - _

A flecked shard of bone skimmed the edge of her cheek from behind and Gimgar blinked dumbly for a moment as a flash of warm air washed over her figure. One moment the demon had been centimeters from her head and the next it had . . . it had . . . lept over them? Turning around, Gimgar felt her fingers go slack around her weapon, jaw falling open. 

The giant minotaur-like demon was tearing into the undead like they were a midnight snack. Jaws crushed rib cages, horns snapped spines, and that whip-like tail simply  _ decimated _ the ranks of undead warriors. 

“Yes!” the chanting, which had almost become background at this point, cut off as Rook grinned and shook one hand in the air, “It  _ worked! _ Take that, half page of warnings!” The glow around his figure slowly dimmed as his eyes faded back to their heterochromatic colors, “I got it on the first try, too-”

_ Snap. _

The demon paused, and then slowly turned to fix it’s eyes on Rook, the clouded suggestion of  _ control _ slowly slipping away as the spell's effect faded, and Rook froze. 

“Ah,” Rook blinked and then gave a slightly shaky smile, “Oops.” 

_ “Wizard!” _

0~o~0

The party staggered back into town the next morning looking half dead. Nagar’s scales were slightly scorched, a chunk of Gimgar’s armor was missing, Gwing was giving off some pretty serious  _ do not talk to me  _ vibes, a string had been snapped on one of Torlin’s musical instruments, and Ava appeared to be slightly tipsy (more than normal, at least).

Their wizard, on the other hand, was grinning ear to ear even as he was dragged, stumbling, between both Gimgar and Nagar. His hat looked like it had been signed at some point during the battle, making it droop slightly. 

“That,” Rook breathed, “was  _ perfect.” _

Gimgar  _ growled.  _ “Rook, my friend, if you  _ ever  _ use that spell near us again I will  _ personally  _ feed you,  _ piece by piece,  _ to  _ Tiamat.” _

“If I can just learn how to hold control of the spell for a little longer I could -”

_ “Wizard,”  _ Nagar rumbled, side eyeing the other members of their party warily.

“And those  _ claws. _ Even when I lost control of it, it kept attacking! It would be perfect for-”

Rook came to a stumbling stop as he found a gleaming sheet of metal resting delicately under his chin, the dagger tilted just right to catch his surprised gaze in its own reflection. 

“I would suggest,” Gwing’s voice was sugary sweat, but none of them doubted the hidden threat behind her words as she tilted her dagger slightly, “ _ A little warning next time.  _ Okay, Rook?”

“Ah,” Rook gripped one edge of his hat, staring down at the metal reflection and then gulped, “Yeah . . . yeah, I could do that.” 

Gwing smiled, and it was all sharp teeth and dark promise, “Good. I would hate for anything  _ unpleasant  _ to happen to you.”

“. . . right.” 

And that was that. 

“But what if -”

“Rook, do you have a death wish?”

“No?”

“Then shut up.” 

0~o~0

Paddy smiled helplessly as he looked around at the people surrounding him, scratching the back of his head. Really, meeting them had been such a surprise, just a few short days ago, in that tavern in Runedar. Tagging along with them had just kinda . . .  _ happened,  _ after that. They were bright, and  _ happy _ , something that he hadn’t seen in a long time from such a large group. It soothed the sting of loneliness that had festered in his heart since the destruction of his home. The pain didn’t go away, he doubted that it ever would, but this . . . it helped. 

Paddy leaned his head against his hand as his gaze drifted over them, counting them off in his head before pausing and frowning, jerking up slightly, “Hey,” he interrupted their jovial bickering, “What happened to Rook? I thought that he would be here tonight?”

“Rook?” Ava blinked and set down her drink face twisting into something indecipherable. 

Gwing winced. 

Gimgar let her head slam down on the table with a groan. 

Torlin ducked her head behind her instrument and whimpered. 

Nagar glanced around at the other’s non-answer and sighed. “We are leaving tomorrow. He’s gone out to . . . acquire a few ingredients for his spells.”

“Oh,” Paddy blinked, “Well, that makes sense, I guess. When do you think that he will be back, I wanted to ask his advice on something-”

“I got it!” the door slammed open, and the heterochromatic wizard tumbled through, holding up a vile with dark red liquid swirling around inside. “I was a little worried, since this town is a little on the small side, but I finally found some! It’ll last for another twenty hours, too, so I don’t have to worry if we get attacked tomorrow and I have to find some on the road. That’s never fun-”

He froze as he glanced over his wincing party. “Was it something that I said?”

Then his eyes landed on a rapidly paling Paddy, who’s eyes were locked on the vial in his hand. 

“Rook,” Paddy swallowed thickly, “Why are you waving a vial of blood in my face?”

“Oh . . . um . . . how do I explain this . . .”

“Friend Paddy,” Nagar patted Paddy’s shoulder sympathetically, “If you see him pull that vial out in the middle of battle, and his eyes turn black,  _ run. _ ”

This, if anything, made Paddy pale even more. “Right.”

0~o~0

“Summon Greater Demon!”

0~o~0

“Nagar, remind me to throw out all of Rook’s vials later, okay?”

“Sorry, friend, we’ve tried that already.”

“Darn it!”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope that you all liked this! Please let me know if you have any other 'magical mishap' ideas you want to see in this Fandom.


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